GenPink

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A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hearing Seth Godin speak in New York at the World Innovation Forum. I have always been a big fan of Seth, but getting to experience his enthusiasm and passion first hand has really made me “hear” his writing differently. I love the follow message from his latest blog post Validation is Overrated:

“There’s a difference between achieving your goals and realizing your work matters.

If you have a book to write, write it. If you want to record an album, record it. No need to wait for someone in a cubicle halfway across the country to decide if you’re worthy.”

I’m not sure if it’s because we are the generation with helicopter parents or if a natural side-effect of being young is seeking approval but I think Seth’s message is certainly a good reminder. Do you find yourself seeking praise from your higher-ups in the work place?

This week, among the many projects and deadlines, we were asked to fill out anonymous peer reviews of select coworkers. Before I knew who I was assigned to review I was very resistant to the idea.

My position in the company is quite unique, in that there are several departments and teams of people and I (kind of) don’t fit in any of them. I am THE marketing department. Ya know… blogger, copy editor, layout person, ad designer, print work orderer, sales message generator… yep all me. So, why would I be reviewing anyone? I don’t directly work with anyone in particular, yet I interact with everyone. I don’t report to one executive (like the rest of the company) as much as I take assignments from each of them. Again my thought was “how can I evaluate anyone else’s job or performance if I don’t really know what it is like to ‘do what they do’ on a day to day basis?”. I could rationalize how one sales person could evaluate another in comparison to themselves. (Have you figured out I’m an extreme analyzer yet?)

I had these conversations with myself for the entire 12 hours in between the time I found out we would be doing this and when I received the list of 5 people I was to review. For some reason, as soon as I receive the list it all become crystal clear to me.

I’ve always had the gift of being able to see someone’s strengths (even when they didn’t always see them). So, this was just an assignment of pointing out what I saw to be an attribute in my peers (and supervisors *scary*) and where I thought they could use a little improvement. I completed the assignment in much less time than it took me to analyze why we were doing it in the first place.

Out of it… came a desire to (in my best 5 year old voice) to ‘do it again!’. AND so I did! Tonight I hopped on LinkedIn and wrote recommendations for 2 coworkers and 2 other people I’ve had the pleasure of working with outside of my “day job”. I had so much fun doing that I think I’ll make this a regular event in my down time. I am blessed to come in contact with many talented people through my job, and the social media club I belong to, and even this blog. It’s inspiring to look at these people through the eyes of “what is great about this person.” I challenge you to try it. Maybe you’re not ready to do it publicly but what would happen if you sent an email to a friend telling them what you appreciate about them? You never know, today might be the day they needed to hear that.

In exactly 10 days (and a few hours) I will be sitting on a panel with 4 other Gen Y voices at what will be my second adventure to SXSW. We are speaking on Why Gen Y Wants to Work “With” You, Not “For” You. Because our topic is so much about generation y as a whole, and the fact that we are not a fan of those who try to stereotype Gen Y, we’ve created a blog (well and actually a twitter & a Facebook fan page) and have been asking people to submit 2 minute videos with their thoughts on how managers can better connect with Gen Y.

I am so excited by the insight in all of the response’s we’ve received so far. It’s been fun to see how willing the gen y community is to get involved.

Jenny Blake who works in Career Development at Google was the first person to address both sides of the equation in her video. In doing so, she gives some great advice about Gen Y taking ownership of their career. Her exact words are “no one else is going to do it for you.” I could not agree more!

Check out Jenny’s video:

We’d love for you to submit your own video, or guest post if you’re not so much into video and let us know what you’d like to see from your managers. Follow sxsgeny.com to keep up with the conversation!

PS: If you’ll be at SXSW and we haven’t yet connected about meeting up, let me know!

Women’s Health Magazine asked their readers to leave comments with the best advice (both practical & silly) their mother has given. Mom’s are notorious for advice giving – both when you want it and when you don’t. I’d be curious to know what is the best advice your mother has given you?

Advice from my mom:

• Always thank people when they go out of their way to do something for you – even if it’s in a form of a quick email.
• Everything is a teaching tool and a learning device – any time life isn’t going the way I’d like it to I am reminded by my mom that there are lessons to learn in everything.
• Rejection is Protection – I’m not sure where my mom get’s all of her rhyming antidotes but this is one of her favorites. She says if you don’t get that job you want or that guy doesn’t ask you out again that rejection is protection and there is something better yet to come.
• Ask for clarity and courage – when I’m having a hard time making a big decision my mom advises me to pray for clarity and courage. She says it’s important to ask for the two together so that you can act on what shows up. For example if you’re in a bad relationship and deciding whether or not to leave, if you just ask for clarity chances are you’ll get 57 red flags in your face but if you don’t have the to courage to leave then the clarity serves no purpose.
• You must have the 4 Cs for a relationship to work (communication, compatibility, common interest, & chemistry) – she says if one of the four is missing your relationship will feel like a table missing a leg.
• The way you do one thing is the way you do everything – my mom uses this one very regularly. This statement is in relation to a person’s character.

Here are some from the comments at Women’s Health Magazine:

• Anything worth doing is worth giving your best
• Don’t EVER chase a man. Choose a man that makes you feel your best!
• Being single is better than any bad relationship!
• If you don’t like it, change it.

Your turn …

PS: Happy Mother’s Day!